ACCRA – A looming cultural standoff is unfolding in Accra as the Ga Traditional Council has strongly objected to the planned celebration of the Igbo New Yam Festival, scheduled for Sunday, September 21, 2025, at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park.
The Council has formally petitioned state authorities to intervene and stop the event, warning that it poses a threat to peace and cultural order within the Ga State.
The festival, spearheaded by Eze Dr. Amb. Chukwudi Jude Ihenetu under the theme “2025 Ibo Day in Ghana – New Yam Festival”, is a long-running annual tradition among Ghana’s Igbo community. For more than a decade, the event has brought together community members and dignitaries from Ghana and Nigeria. Last year’s edition, for instance, attracted high-profile personalities from both countries.
But the Ga Traditional Council insists the latest plan defies an earlier directive. In a letter signed by the Council’s Registrar, Evelyn Amewotse, it pointed to a July 9, 2025 press statement cautioning Eze Ihenetu against hosting cultural festivities that introduce Igbo traditions into the Ga State.
“HRM King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II has directed me to write to inform you and also seek your assistance by putting the above programme to a halt as soon as possible,” the registrar stressed in the correspondence, underscoring the seriousness of the matter.
The New Yam Festival, also known as Iri Ji, holds deep cultural value for the Igbo people globally. It marks the end of the farming season and the beginning of a new harvest cycle, celebrated with yam feasts, masquerade dances, and traditional rituals.
However, the Ga Traditional Council says its opposition is not about the festival itself, but about safeguarding the cultural sovereignty of the Ga State. Leaders fear that permitting such an event against earlier warnings could set a troubling precedent and potentially ignite future tensions.
The situation now places law enforcement and government agencies in the middle of a sensitive cultural clash.
Their intervention, observers say, will be key to de-escalating the matter and finding a resolution that honours both the Ga Council’s authority and the Igbo community’s traditions.
Source:metrotvonline.com
